International Trade committee  I cannot comment on Harper-lite, but I believe we have very experienced negotiating teams, and I would expect that our agreements would be similar. However, if we offend the Koreans by withdrawing and thinking we can come back whenever we want, in a couple of years or so, it's a

International Trade committee  I believe a free trade agreement would change that imbalance by removing the tariffs that apply right now for cars that come from Canada across into Korea. That's the first thing. Secondly, it would remove the slight tariff that applies for Korean cars in Canada, but frankly they

International Trade committee  No kidding.

International Trade committee  If I'm in the country, it's a short flight. It's eight hours from Seoul to Vancouver coming this way. It's a short flight, so no problem. Gentlemen, your work is very important. I thank you for this opportunity.

International Trade committee  I'm sorry, was that one for me?

International Trade committee  Mr. Sinclair, would you like to start first?

International Trade committee  The U.S. is Korea's third-largest supplier of importing goods, behind China and Japan, and they face discriminatory barriers similar to ours. The most-favoured-nation tariffs are three to four times what the U.S. tariff of about 2.2% is, so Canada and the U.S. are very similar on

International Trade committee  The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is firmly in support of this free trade agreement. We think it can be a high-quality agreement with an excellent trading partner, one whose GDP per capita is $20,000 per year. We've got a partner who can afford to buy some of our goods. As well,

International Trade committee  Basically, in Korea you have to have a distribution network and provide after-service. The Korean is a sophisticated consumer, not unlike the Japanese in terms of their requirements, so it's not surprising that the car that is selling the best in Korea is the BMW right now. Tha

International Trade committee  No, I am merely saying that the Korean consumer wants confidence that they will get care and attention. I believe it is the same in terms of selling your product anywhere. It is not clear to me that the Korean consumer has any kind of bias anymore. They want good value, and they

International Trade committee  No, I'm sorry, I'm not the person to give you the details, but I can speak anecdotally to the fact that I believe it makes sense to have very strong responses when we're offside. China, for instance, in the famous garlic dispute with Korea, implemented tariffs that were about one

International Trade committee  I think the Korean dollar has also risen strongly. For Canada, we have an opportunity to participate very well, whereas with the U.S. right now we are at a disadvantage in terms of our dollar. That's why we need to use the “not all the eggs in one basket” approach. In the IT sec

International Trade committee  My apologies, because I didn't hear all of your remarks due to translation, but let me address what I thought you were asking me. You asked specifically if there are studies that can give some comfort, because there's a lot of pain in the manufacturing sector right now. No, I do

International Trade committee  Perhaps I can start. First, with regard to RIM, I think that problem can be resolved without being part of an FTA, and it shouldn't be, because it would involve us giving up concessions that we probably don't have to give. We just need to put more public pressure on. This is an

International Trade committee  Good afternoon, Honourable Chairman Richardson and honourable committee members. My remarks are based on working with the Canadian business community in Seoul since 1996 and being active during that time with the CCCK, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea. I was chair for s